Discussion
Hi All,
Just thought I'd ask the V8 Fans and Engine Gurus what they think so far of the 562 bhp 4.5 V8 in the new Ferrari 458 Italia.... Sounds quite impressive to me... (but I'm no engine guru!)
How do they get that amount of power out of a normally aspirated engine? 125bhp/litre!
Has anyone ever considered a Ferrari V8 transplant for a TVR? Obviously its a bit early for reliability figures for this engine...but that never stopped us buying a TVR anyways did it?
Cheers
Just thought I'd ask the V8 Fans and Engine Gurus what they think so far of the 562 bhp 4.5 V8 in the new Ferrari 458 Italia.... Sounds quite impressive to me... (but I'm no engine guru!)
How do they get that amount of power out of a normally aspirated engine? 125bhp/litre!

Has anyone ever considered a Ferrari V8 transplant for a TVR? Obviously its a bit early for reliability figures for this engine...but that never stopped us buying a TVR anyways did it?

Cheers
About 20 years ago the target of 100bhp per litre was considered to be limited to really high performance cars but as the years ticked by other pressures were brought to bear. For instance, the requirement of catalysists, fuel consumption checks, and now emissions are taxable. And the most important one I think is the demand for reliability. My last three cars all had over 140k on the clock when I sold them. None had their engines touched. The way of achieving this is by detuning the engines, or rather not tuning them to their full capability.
With clever engine control electrical thingies it is easy enough to get high brake mean effective pressure (high output for size of engine is a rough definition) but at a cost, and that cost includes longevity, fuel consumption, emissions, noise, heat and other such problems.
So 125bhp per litre is not that hard to achieve. It is hard to get to that figure if you are worried about fuel consumption figures, longevity (no offence to Ferrari but they are not the world's most reliable cars), and such.
On speaking with a company that modified engines for GT race cars I mentioned that I wasn't that overwhelmed with the bhp he was quoting as the engine only had to last about six hours of racing. The comment didn't go down all that well, as you can imagine, but he reckoned because of the environment, where engines are not treated with the care they deserve under the pressure of racing (not quite the words he used), the output, of around 125bhp per litre (before restrictions), was reasonable. He said that his engines would last for ages in a road car.
The decision on bmep is a compromise. With expensive luxury sprts cars that aren't used for commuting and where the owner might expect to have it serviced every couple of thousand miles, few of the contrainst mentioned above apply.
With clever engine control electrical thingies it is easy enough to get high brake mean effective pressure (high output for size of engine is a rough definition) but at a cost, and that cost includes longevity, fuel consumption, emissions, noise, heat and other such problems.
So 125bhp per litre is not that hard to achieve. It is hard to get to that figure if you are worried about fuel consumption figures, longevity (no offence to Ferrari but they are not the world's most reliable cars), and such.
On speaking with a company that modified engines for GT race cars I mentioned that I wasn't that overwhelmed with the bhp he was quoting as the engine only had to last about six hours of racing. The comment didn't go down all that well, as you can imagine, but he reckoned because of the environment, where engines are not treated with the care they deserve under the pressure of racing (not quite the words he used), the output, of around 125bhp per litre (before restrictions), was reasonable. He said that his engines would last for ages in a road car.
The decision on bmep is a compromise. With expensive luxury sprts cars that aren't used for commuting and where the owner might expect to have it serviced every couple of thousand miles, few of the contrainst mentioned above apply.
Edited by Derek Smith on Friday 4th December 07:47
RedSpike66 said:
Hi All,
Just thought I'd ask the V8 Fans and Engine Gurus what they think so far of the 562 bhp 4.5 V8 in the new Ferrari 458 Italia.... Sounds quite impressive to me... (but I'm no engine guru!)
How do they get that amount of power out of a normally aspirated engine? 125bhp/litre!
Has anyone ever considered a Ferrari V8 transplant for a TVR? Obviously its a bit early for reliability figures for this engine...but that never stopped us buying a TVR anyways did it?
Cheers
Are you suggesting putting a Ferrari engine....in a TVR? I shall refrain from further comment. Just thought I'd ask the V8 Fans and Engine Gurus what they think so far of the 562 bhp 4.5 V8 in the new Ferrari 458 Italia.... Sounds quite impressive to me... (but I'm no engine guru!)
How do they get that amount of power out of a normally aspirated engine? 125bhp/litre!

Has anyone ever considered a Ferrari V8 transplant for a TVR? Obviously its a bit early for reliability figures for this engine...but that never stopped us buying a TVR anyways did it?

Cheers
Gazzab said:
dhf said:
My old R5 Turbo 2 produced 185bhp in standard form from a 1.4 litre and 235bhp with a few tweeks,it went on to produce over 500bhp in the Maxi if memory serves me correct and that was early eighties....
Thats cos its a turbo. The Ferrari is a normally aspirated engine. TVR653X said:
Gazzab said:
dhf said:
My old R5 Turbo 2 produced 185bhp in standard form from a 1.4 litre and 235bhp with a few tweeks,it went on to produce over 500bhp in the Maxi if memory serves me correct and that was early eighties....
Thats cos its a turbo. The Ferrari is a normally aspirated engine. TVR653X said:
Gazzab said:
dhf said:
My old R5 Turbo 2 produced 185bhp in standard form from a 1.4 litre and 235bhp with a few tweeks,it went on to produce over 500bhp in the Maxi if memory serves me correct and that was early eighties....
Thats cos its a turbo. The Ferrari is a normally aspirated engine. Gazzab said:
TVR653X said:
Gazzab said:
dhf said:
My old R5 Turbo 2 produced 185bhp in standard form from a 1.4 litre and 235bhp with a few tweeks,it went on to produce over 500bhp in the Maxi if memory serves me correct and that was early eighties....
Thats cos its a turbo. The Ferrari is a normally aspirated engine. TVR653X said:
Gazzab said:
TVR653X said:
Gazzab said:
dhf said:
My old R5 Turbo 2 produced 185bhp in standard form from a 1.4 litre and 235bhp with a few tweeks,it went on to produce over 500bhp in the Maxi if memory serves me correct and that was early eighties....
Thats cos its a turbo. The Ferrari is a normally aspirated engine. Gazzab said:
TVR653X said:
Gazzab said:
TVR653X said:
Gazzab said:
dhf said:
My old R5 Turbo 2 produced 185bhp in standard form from a 1.4 litre and 235bhp with a few tweeks,it went on to produce over 500bhp in the Maxi if memory serves me correct and that was early eighties....
Thats cos its a turbo. The Ferrari is a normally aspirated engine. Gassing Station | General TVR Stuff & Gossip | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff







